Fight for Love
by Evita
Summary: While on a mission John and Teyla are captured and forced to fight for their life.


**Pairing:** John/Teyla  
**Rating: **PG-13  
**Disclaimer: **I don't own John or Teyla or anything else from Stargate Atlantis and I don't make any money with this here.  
**Summary:** While on a mission John and Teyla are captured and forced to fight for their life.

**Beta:** Allie (Thanks a lot!)

This story was written for a ficathon at the Supernatural Atlantis Forum.

**Fight for Love**

They were surrounded. Teyla glanced around at the men that were pointing spears, knifes and arrows at her and wished she could use her own weapons. But her knife was in the sheave at her hip and her gun lay about a meter away and even if it was nearer she couldn't have grabbed it. She was holding onto a short branch. At the other end of the branch there was Col. Sheppard hanging down in a hole, a deep precipice under him.

Only minutes ago everything had still been fine. They had landed on this small planet to search for another ZPM. Since McKay had found a strange machine near the gate possibly ancient John had told Ronon to stay behind and he himself had left with Teyla to explore the surroundings. Ronon hadn't been happy with this decision but since he and John took turns in protecting McKay during their trips off world and it had been his turn this time he didn't really complain. None of them could stand it to hear McKay's chitchat and complaints all the time. So the arrangement was the best for all of them, especially as it protected McKay of being killed by a very annoyed Ronon.

Teyla and John had left for the forest where McKay thought the ZPM to be. They had decided to look for it until Rodney had finished with this machine to save time.

After some time of looking without any sign of the ZPM or any other ancient technology John had been about to call it a day when Teyla who had walked in front of him had gestured him to keep quiet.

"Shhh! There is something wrong. I can feel it. Perhaps there is someone around", she had told him.

"Where?", he had asked and stepped next to her.

She had raisen her hand to stop him. She hadn't known, what exactly was wrong, but it had felt dangerous.

"We should go back", she had said. "We can return with Ronon and Rodney, if they finished with this machine. I think it's more secure to have someone cover our back when we go any farther."

"I don't see or hear anything that's wrong. Perhaps there was just some animal", John had answered and he had made some steps forward.

"John, please, stop. Trust me. I'm certain that there is some danger."

Sheppard had smiled at her as he had turned around to her a little.

"So frightened of nothing? That's not really you. Come on. I tell you, there is nothing wrong. Trust me!"

"John!"

The moment she had called out to him, he had again made some steps forward … and had disappeared from her view.

"John!"

Thinking of nothing else than to look what had happened to him, she had raised forward and found out, that the ground where he had just stood, had disappeared under him and he had fallen down into a deep hole.

Now she knew that everything had been a trap. A trap to catch any unsuspecting person who just came along.

John had been lucky not to fall down all the way or he could have been dead since the hole was about five metres deep and the bottom was covered with big rocks. When the ground gave way under him he had grabbed onto everything he could reach and had found some rooting.

Teyla had seen him dangling there and at once searched for something to reach down to him and draw him up. The thick branch she had found had come in handy. John had been able to grasp onto it while trying to get a hold on the walls of the hole.

He had nearly reached the border of the trap, when she had heard something in the undergrowth. In seconds about a dozen men clad in simple clothes, mostly made of fur and leather, had appeared around her threatening her with their weapons.

If not for John whose life she held in her hand she would have thought it possible to escape, but so her first concern was that the strangers were going to kill her and John would be falling down to crash his bones on the rocky bottom of the hole.

She glanced around at the men waiting for them to make a move or to say something to her.

She didn't have to wait long.

"Don't make a move or we will kill you", a very tall man said to her. "Tell him to let go of his weapon. Then we will help him out of there."

Teyla slowly nodded. Keeping an eye on the strangers she turned to John who couldn't see what was going on.

"John, we are surrounded by about a dozen of men training their weapons on us. They will help you out there, if you are dropping down your weapons. Please do it. Otherwise they will kill us."

John Sheppard paced around in the small hut where he was held captive. After the strangers had helped him out of this hole he had only seen them leading away a bound Teyla. Before he was able to do anything he had found himself tied up by thick ropes around his wrists, his hands behind his back. The strangers didn't care to answer his questions when he wanted to know where they would take him and Teyla and what they wanted from them. They had led him through bushes and undergrowth for a long time until they reached a small village. More exactly it was a collection of huts that were simply built and showed that they were nothing permanent. Perhaps these people were nomads, always travelling around their people.

But this discovery didn't help him in finding a way out of this situation or even finding Teyla who could nowhere be seen.

Two men had then locked him in this hut. It was small, only one little room with no more furniture than a few pieces of fur that could be meant for bedding. They had searched him for more weapons before they left him, bound and alone. But he knew they were around. He could hear steps circling the hut.

He waited. There was nothing else he could do. He tried to struggle out of his bonds, but with no success.

There was Teyla? He feared not so much about himself but about Teyla and what these people would do to her.

On the other hand McKay and Ronon were in his mind. How long would it take them to recognise that something was wrong? Would they start to search for them or would the return to Atlantis to report and come back with a bigger searching team? As for Ronon he knew the big guy would want to go after him and Teyla at once. He really hoped that McKay could convince him of leaving and returning with another team since it was really possible, that he would also be captured.

John groaned. Would it not have been for him and his stupidity he probably wouldn't be here. Teyla had tried to warn him about some danger and he simply hadn't wanted to hear what she said. After a long time of nothing happening he had been looking for some adventure. Well, now he was right in the middle of one.

The door opening pushed John out of his thought and back to the now and here.

"Teyla", he exclaimed, when the woman was led into the hut, door closing right behind her. "Are you alright? What did they do to you? Did they tell you what they want from us?"

"John, I'm okay", Teyla said once he made a pause in his speaking. She stepped to him and told him to turn around. Not until now he saw that she wasn't bound like him. "Let me take off these bonds and then I will tell you everything I know."

Sheppard did what she told him and he could feel her soft fingers struggle with the ropes to loosen them.

When he was free he turned back to her inspecting her all over to see if she was unhurt.

"Hey, I'm really okay", she said seeing his uncertainty. "They don't want to do anything to us … now. That means if we don't try to escape. So they told me."

"What does that mean, 'now'?. Are they sparing us now to kill us some time later, perhaps when the weather is better or something like that? And of course we will try to escape. I won't be sitting here waiting for them to decide when to kill us."

Sheppard started pacing again. "How many of them are there? Did you see where they took our weapons? Do you know what weapons they use? I need to know everything", he shot his questions at her.

Like always Teyla stayed calm and let him rumble around until he recognised that she wanted him to listen to her instead of formulating multitudes of plans.

"What is it?", he questioned.

"They told me of their plans and why they caught us. And for that also a lot more people who came through the gate. Sit down and I will explain it to you."

John wasn't convinced that sitting down and talking was the right thing to do just now but he knew he wouldn't get any information from Teyla if he didn't do what she wanted.

"They are looking for soldiers."

"What soldiers?"

"We are in the middle of some war between two clans living on this planet. They are killing each other in big numbers. Since this clan has lost a lot of members over the last few years they are recruiting new soldiers."

"By recruiting you mean they capture people who happen to come by and force them to fight for them?"

"Something like that. There seem to be not only the two big clans on this planet but also a lot of smaller ones. They are also recruiting from these clans."

"Has nobody told them that it's not right to force people into wars they have nothing to do with?"

"They are quite simple people. They don't know how to use the Stargate or for example our weapons. They threw them away then they hurt themselves by trying to find out how they are used."

"So you are telling me that there is no chance to get our weapons back?"

"That's it. They made me an offer. We are about to be trained as their soldiers. In a few days there will be a fight between two of them and us. If we can beat our opponents, we are to go with them to their home and are allowed to fight with them."

"Allowed? I don't want to fight with them. What about that?"

"If we are beaten by our opponents they will throw us down in that hole you know as bait for some animals they are trying to catch with this trap. And that will also be happening if we don't cooperate."

"What a choice!"

Sheppard once again stood and started pacing. "There has to be a way out of here. What about Rodney and Ronon? They could also be captured. We have to warn them."

"I don't think that there is a way out of here. I saw how many men are around here. And they are all armed. They would kill us before we had a chance to escape, especially without our weapons."

"So what do you propose?"

"Staying here, training, waiting for Ronon to come back with a rescue team. I'm sure he will find us. And if they catch him too, Dr. Weir will find a way to get us out of here. The only thing we have to do is survive until then."

John closed his eyes. That was no plan of his liking. But he appreciated Teyla's calm sense of reason and knew she was possibly right.

John crumpled on the floor gasping for air. It hurt. It really hurt.

"Stand up!", Kalahid told him in this commanding voice he didn't want to hear anymore.

"Can't", was everything he could get out.

Some of the men around them snickered.

"Then you are dead", Kalahid said without emotion. "Do you wish for your death?"

"No."

John tried to get to his knees but his whole body hurt like every bone had been crashed.

"Look at your friend. She is doing quite well. Do you want to be second best to a woman?"

John didn't answer. He knew in hand to hand combat like they were forced to train here Teyla could beat him all the time. Only Ronon was able to beat her – sometimes. It was sad to see her not always being able to fight off her opponents but at least she was not beaten red and blue like him."

"How should I be able to learn with you always hitting me until I'm down and not telling me how I could defend me? Some hints would be fine", John coughed between breaths.

"Our enemy also wouldn't tell you where you went wrong. You have to learn by yourself", Kalahid answered without mercy. "We are finished for today. Take him back."

Two of the surrounding men grabbed his arms and pulled him to his feet. John didn't know how he should ever be able to win a fight against them if he was regularly beaten so he couldn't stand or walk anymore. This was the third day this was happening and he wasn't getting any better in defending himself.

Again they locked him in the hut where he and Teyla were hold, when they weren't training or travelling.

He had been right. These people didn't stay long at any place. Until now every second day they took down their hut and travelled to another place. Teyla told him she saw some of the people hiding their traces. So he knew it would be difficult for the team of Atlantis to find them.

He just lay down on his furs when Teyla showed up.

"John, are you okay? Should I tell them to bring something to ease the pain?"

Sheppard only shook his head. "They don't need to see me as a complete looser."

"You are no looser. You are just not used to hand to hand combat like they are fighting."

"How are you doing? Any wounds? I saw this big idiot hitting you."

"No, everything is alright. He didn't really hurt me. I let him think he had hit me harder than he really did."

"Me too."

"What?

"You let me think that too. I was concerned."

"I'm sorry John. I'm really fine. Nothing to worry about."

But her eyes told him against her words she was worried.

"What is it? There is something in your eyes."

"I'm worrying about you. Sorry, but it doesn't seem like you could beat any of them. And they are watching us like on the first day. Still no possibility to escape."

John nodded. "When the day of the fight is up I want you to take the first chance to escape. I think you are right, but you have a good chance to take your opponent down. Perhaps there will be an opportunity for you to flee."

"I won't go without you."

"Don't be stupid. If I loose, I'm dead. But you can live!"

Teyla shook her head. There had to be another way out of here for both of them.

"I'll teach you."

"What?"

"I'll teach you to fight."

"You tried that before. To no success I have to say."

"That was because you didn't see the necessity to learn. I hope you see it now."

John nodded. "Do you really think that there is a chance?"

"I think it's worth the effort."

Two more days passed and they were still prisoners. Teyla sat in their hut waiting for John to return from his training sessions. They had brought her back early because of some injury to her ankle.

It took about half an hour until John was shoved into the hut. As soon as the door was closed behind him he rushed over to where she sat, took her right foot and removed her shoe.

"What are you doing?", Teyla asked surprised by his doings.

"Where does it hurt?", he asked her instead of answering her question.

"No …"

"I'll make some cold wrapping around it", John ignored her attempt to say something as he turned to a bucket with water which stood at the wall.

He could feel something slipping around his ankle but couldn't prevent himself from falling down on his nose.

"What?", he questioned as he looked up into the grinning face of Teyla who stood on one foot just next to him turning her right ankle that now didn't seem to be injured at all.

"That was all nothing but a trick. It seems that not only our friends out there did fall for it."

"Got me again", Sheppard said as he stood up from the floor and dusted himself off.

"You trick me, you beat me in hand to hand combat. You're doing nothing good for a man's ego."

"You got to beat me once."

"I know. But that was when I was being transformed into some bug. And … and I don't think you liked what I did."

John turned around embarrassed of the reminder of what he had done when he wasn't really himself. Not only had he hurt Teyla during sparring but also he had forced his kiss on her.

Teyla watched him, careful not to expose what she felt. No, she hadn't really liked that John had kissed her so forcefully. And she knew that was exactly what he was talking about. But the cause was not John doing it without her permission but John not being himself.

Since this day she had asked herself what it would have felt like if really he had kissed her.

"We should start with our session", she changed to a safer subject.

John groaned. Since Teyla had come up with her idea to train him, he had no minute to recover. She had given him some tips on the very first day to avoid being beaten up by Kalahid, his training master. Not that he was going to be able to defend himself properly, but he knew now that it was better to go down early than to have someone beat his brain out of his head.

When John looked at Teyla she stood there, awaiting his first move. The last two days she had shown him how to attack but also how to recognise the next steps of his opponent and to use them against him. They had gone through the moves at a slow pace but now he intended to show her what he had learned.

She ducked away under the first blows but astonishing for both of them he could manage to sweep her feet out under her landing her on her butt.

"Wow", was all she could say.

"Did I hurt you?" he asked immediately.

"No, I don't think so. Could you …"

She held her hand up to him getting him to help her on her feet again.

The moment she took it she suddenly pulled sending him to the floor next to her, then moving over him to catch his wrists and hold him down.

"I didn't say I would surrender", she told him laughing down on him.

"Neither did I", he answered surprising her again as he managed to roll around with her placing her under him. "Do you now?"

"What will happen to me if I do?", she wanted to know still smiling.

He held her down firmly as she tried again to get the upper hand and throw him off of her.

"You should have asked what will happen if you don't", he gave back with some glinting in his eyes. His gaze wandered between her eyes and her lips

She knew what he wanted to do, what he would do.

He let go of her hands to give her an opportunity to hold him back.

She did nothing.

He lowered his head and brushed his lips softly over hers waiting for her to turn away. When she didn't, he kissed her again, longer, more impassionate. And she returned the kiss.

"Tomorrow. They told me we will be fighting for our right to serve as their soldiers tomorrow."

"Why are they always talking to you and not to me?", John asked as he pulled Teyla down to him onto their bedding. They shared the furs since their first kiss two days ago, although nothing more than kissing happened between them. They both agreed not to start head over heels into something that perhaps only happened because of their current situation and the closeness they were forced into. They both hoped they would be able to explore the possibilities of a relationship when returning to Atlantis – if that day would ever come.

Until now there was no sign that their friends in Atlantis knew where they were. Sheppard didn't want to think that perhaps Rodney and Ronon died before they were able to return to Atlantis. But that was certainly the only cause why no one would come to rescue them.

"I think it is because their leader in their home settlement is also a woman."

"What?"

John had completely forgotten his question.

"That's perhaps the cause for them talking to me every time instead of you", Teyla explained patiently while enjoying him slowly caressing her naked arms.

"Do you think we will live?"

"If it depends on me, we will survive together or die together. But I certainly prefer living", she said, smiling sadly. She didn't know if what she could teach John was enough to survive the fight they would be forced into tomorrow. But that she couldn't tell him.

He kissed her neck, slowly stroking his tongue over the pulse point he could feel beneath her delicate skin.

"If we are going to die, perhaps we should …" he let hang the half sentence when he moved his hand from her arm and let it travel near her breast.

Teyla caught his straying hand, kissing it and then bringing it back around her waist to safe ground. She shook her head. "Let's wait. Let it be an additional incentive to survive."

"Is that a promise?"

She smiled snuggling into his arms. "I promise."

They were surrounded by about thirty men who made sure that they didn't try to escape this fight of life or death. Teyla and John had been surprised when they were told they would fight at the same time and were even allowed to help each other, but as soon as the fight started they knew that their opponents took the same advantage.

John saw himself suddenly in the centre of the attention of two fighters who knew he was the one easier to defeat. While distracting Teyla with some fake blows they let hit after hit rain in his direction. Teyla tried to defend not only herself but also him, but she wasn't sure if they had any chance.

John did what Teyla had told him: He let them think he lost his energy very fast, not anymore attacking, only trying to defend himself from the most forceful blows. He had to wait until finding a weak spot in his opponents' defence and then go for it.

With horror he suddenly saw Teyla being hit hard at the head by one of their attackers. She went down immediately.

"Teyla", he called out to her, but she didn't move. A blow to his stomach sent him down on his knees. Out of the corner of his eye he saw some movement in the circle of men around them. Then something happened they had told them nothing about. Someone threw a knife in the middle of the circle. "She is not worth of being one of our soldiers. Kill her", Kalahid said to the two fighters in his cold unemotional voice John hated so much..

"No!", John called. He couldn't believe that she would die while helping him to survive. "No! Don't kill her!"

"Then try to rescue her", Kalahid said a cold laughter escaping his throat. He knew the man wouldn't manage to keep himself alive not to speak of his defenceless companion.

He turned around and added before stepping out of the circle. "Kill them both!"

John dived for the knife as soon as he saw the glances of his two opponents settle on it. He had to get it or he could kill Teyla and himself.

Only a few centimetres away one of the men landed a blow on John that brought him down again. He just caught the leg of the other one and brought him down with him before he could get the knife. John struggled with the man, never letting the other one out of his sight shoving one into the other when they came up from the floor.

John brought himself between Teyla, the knife and his opponents. He had to protect her. He couldn't loose her when he just had really found her.

All hell broke loose when both men stormed in John's direction. Two against one they thought to easily get the upper hand. John readied himself for the impact of more hits, prepared to take everything it needed to defend Teyla. He kicked and hit always searching for openings in the men's defense like Teyla had told him to do.

Suddenly one of the men, who tried to get around him to reach for the knife still sticking in the dirt near Teyla, went down to the floor heavily groaning.

John turned round a little bit just to see Teyla kicking the man who tried to come up.

"Teyla?"

"I just thought you needed one more incentive for your fight", she told him with a sparkle in her eyes. "Now watch yourself."

John just turned back in the right moment to see another hit coming to his head and ducked away under it.

He sent the man down to the floor and went after him when suddenly something flashed past him. Looking around he saw the earth burnt in front of Kalahid who had returned to the circle when he recognised that Teyla and John were still alive. He was holding a spear in his hands ready to throw it at John but something had stopped him. Something on the other side of the circle from where now a loud growl could be heard.

John turned around to see Ronon standing there, his gun ready to shoot again.

"Hey buddy, what took you so long to come here?", John said when he saw Lorne and some other members of the Atlantis team stepping next to him training their guns on the people around them.

"Looks that you had much fun here. Didn't want to interrupt to early", Ronon said in his dry voice.

"Couldn't have come by at any better moment. I think our new friends will let us leave now gladly."

With Teyla in tow he backed out of the circle in the direction of his team.

"Everything alright with you two?", Ronon asked betraying his former careless words. "Carson is right back there. I think he should take a look at you."

Teyla nodded. "Only a few scratches, but everything else is alright."

Now when he exited the Jumper back on Atlantis his adrenaline level down to normal John recognised that he hurt everywhere. Dr. Beckett had told him to come by and let him do a final check and after that there was the official debriefing. But now he had something more urgent in his mind.

He got hold on Teyla's arm when she went past him on her way to her quarters to clean up. He pulled her onto the next balcony before turning around to her.

"Teyla …I …I know …"

"Hey, John, no need to say something. I told you that we shouldn't rush into something that's born in such an unusual situation. We have done nothing to harm our friendship and if you want to I will forget everything."

John watched Teyla turn her eyes away from his.

"Teyla, do you really wish to forget everything?", he asked anxious she would say yes at once.

She closed her eyes before answering. "No, but I will try to, if that's what you wanted to ask me."

"No, that's not it. There is another question lingering in my mind."

Now Teyla looked up to him again, hope shining wide in her eyes. "And what would that be?"

He lowered his head to her, brushed her lips softly with his and then let them wander to her ear.

"Will you keep your promise?", he whispered.

The End


End file.
